Fig 8. Monthly average (± SE) body weights (kg) of captive (triangles) and wild (circles, adapted from Smuts et al. (1980)) female lions through 3 yr (36 mo).

White triangles denote months when captive females were actively gaining weight and grey triangles represent months where the average body weight was similar to adult weights. Trend lines are solid for captive lions and dashed for wild lions. The black arrow indicates the average age, 13 mo (1.06 yr), and body weight, 80 kg at which captive females (n = 4) showed waves of follicular development. The grey arrow approximates when wild lions should begin cycling based on the age, 21 mo (1.75 yr), at which they reach ~80 kg and the open arrow is the estimated age (26 mo, 2.2 yr) and body weight (96 kg) when females reach puberty in the wild using behavioral observations (Smuts, 1980).